Start 2025 with a Fantastical view of YA Dystopian and Fantasy Best Sellers
The new year has begun, and therefore marks a new start to the blooming season ahead! What better way to walk into a new year than by walking first into a new world? Worlds full of deadly competitions, dangerous games, courts full of faeries and warriors, and an underlying sparkle of magic. HPU Libraries possess many YA dystopian and fantasy novels that earn five stars all over BookTok, and have found themselves on several best seller lists. Check out these four reader favorites.
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a dazzling trilogy full of brilliant riddles, dangerous puzzles, and a game that doesn’t end until all secrets are brought up into the light. This series begins with a high schooler, Avery Grambs, and a fortune that changes her life. When well-known billionaire Tobias Hawthore dies, he leaves Avery his entire fortune. The problem, you may ask? She has no idea why this mysterious man would leave her his entire fortune when she’s never met him before. In order to claim her inheritance, she must move to Hawthorne house, sprawling with passages and trap doors, and where nothing, or no one is who they seem to be. Hawthorne’s four grandsons– boys who grew up to be dangerously brilliant– are convinced Avery is a conwoman, working to steal the fortune from under their noses. Caught in this world full of wealth, secrets, lies, and danger every way she looks, Avery will have to play the game herself to not only inherit the fortune, but survive.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
“May the odds be ever in your favor” when you read this grappling novel full of life-altering sacrifices, survival for humanity, and a battle-to-the-death in the middle of an arena broadcasted for all to see. In the nation of Panem, divided into twelve districts, we follow sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a young girl who lives to protect her mother and younger sister from the brink of starvation and the weight of poverty within their poor district. Every year, a game is held, requiring one boy and one girl from ages twelve to eighteen from each district to compete to the death. When Katniss’s sister is called into the games– The Hunger Games–she steps forward, taking her sister’s place, playing with the overbearing weight of death as a contender. She’s well-versed in survival, and even stronger in determination and sheer will, but in order to win she will have to start making choices that could cost her life and everyone she holds dear. In this trilogy, you will find yourself captivated by the glimmer of possibility, glamouring the underlying importance of risk and reward, family and freedom, what was and what could be.
Divergent by Veronica Roth
In Veronica Roth’s fallen city of Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each a tight-knit community dedicated to a particular virtue: Candor (honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Dauntless (bravery), Amity (peacefulness), and Erudite (intelligence). Every year, sixteen-year-olds must choose which faction they will devote the rest of their lives to, regardless of where they were born or family status. Once you choose, there’s no going back, and no associating with those from your past. Beatrice Prior (Tris) must decide which faction she finds herself most drawn to, and the choice shocks all, including herself. As she begins finding her bearings in her new faction, she fights alongside her fellow initiates, undergoing extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations that reveal all. As she makes new friends and begins to discover herself, she is burdened with a secret that must be kept hidden or it could cost her her life. As she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves, or destroy her altogether. The Divergent trilogy is one of facing fears, finding hope, determining right from wrong, and understanding the importance of risk, drive, bravery, and endurance.
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful and cruel father. Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, mapping out her future–one one from which nobody can possibly help her break free. She worried that her dream of seeing Caraval–the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show–are over. When Scarlett’s dream invitation to the legendary competition arrives, Tella whisks her away to the show, hoping to give her an adventure before her planned future. With the help of a mysterious sailor, they get to the island where Caraval is held, only for Tella to be kidnapped by the mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner. Scarlett has been warned that everything that happens during Caraval is only a performance, but to be wary because some can be swept too far away. In a quest to honor the unbreakable bond the sisters share, Scarlett throws herself into a game of mesmerizing romance, heartbreak, and magic in an attempt to save her sister. Whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or there will be far more to lose than simply a final prize. When the doors open, there’s only one thing to say: everything is not as it seems.
These best-selling dystopian/fantasy novels are full of grappling adventures and daring challenges, keeping you on your toes throughout the entirety of the collection. These will immerse you in a world so captivating, so drowning, that coming up for air will seem futile. If you’re looking for a place to explore, a universe to dive into, be sure to check these books out at the HPU Smith Library.
-Blog post by by Brielle Regdos, HPU Print Shop Assistant